Coalition for Sustainable Transportation

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
300022937
IRS 990 coverage
2014–2020
Forms available
Form 990 2020, Form 990-EZ 2015
Location
Santa Barbara, CA, USA
Phone
8058753562
Rating
66
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Transportation Assistance

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$169,663
Expenses
$220,587
Assets
$0
Liabilities
$0

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2020. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

6 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • JOANNA KAUFMAN (PRESIDENT)

People named in this filing

  • JOANNA KAUFMAN (PRESIDENT)
  • EVE SANFORD (VICE PRESIDE)
  • GREG JANEE (TREASURER)

Selected names, not a complete roster or a statement of current roles. Open leadership details for the complete filed list.

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2020. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

The organization provides advocacy, education and outreach to improve trasportation options in the santa barbara and ventura regions, promoting rail, bus, bike and pedestrian access.

What it reported doing in 2020

Educating santa barbara and ventura region childred to walk or ride to school safely, and the disabled and seniors about safe alternative transportation. Publications and events in santa barbara and ventura regions promotion public awareness of sustainable alternative transportation and safety

Operating model

Revenue model
Grant-funded. 70% of the money available for current operations came from government grants.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 100% of reported program-service expenses outside its grant, affiliate-payment, and member-benefit lines. This expense classification does not rule out separately announced grant awards.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. A relatively small share of voting board members are independent and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 85
  • Transparency & Controls: 92
  • Accountability: 6
  • Sustainability: 13
  • Growth: 60

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 93.1%; rating input score 93
  • Program expense ratio: 71.6%; rating input score 72
  • Fundraising efficiency: $83 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 80; 80th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: Limited
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 0%; rating input score 0; 6th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 1 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 14
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Fail
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Fail
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -30%; rating input score 10; 10th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0; rating input score 1; 1st percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: Limited
  • Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 72; 72nd percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: -3.5% per year; rating input score 0; 32nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 2.9% per year; rating input score 100; 53rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 0.3% per year; rating input score 100; 30th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 93.1% of revenue deployed · 71.6% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 0 of 6 board members independent · 1 of 7 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $158K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 6 people listed
  • Consistency: 20 of 20 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 6 filing years from 2014 to 2020
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 2 filed money-flow records
  • Grant readiness: Federal tax and exclusion status, award history, and grant-maker relationships.
  • People: Everyone the filings name, and which of them the filings identify by more than a name.

Key Signals

Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.

  • High — Accountability: Independent voting board scored 0/100.
  • High — Accountability: Governance controls: 5 of 6 not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 10/100.
  • High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 1/100.